(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Senate Republicans said on Wednesday that they were doubtful that a bipartisan coronavirus economic stimulus package would be agreed upon before the November election.
This has prompted White House officials to consider using more executive orders to direct funding to the hurting airline industry as well as extended the weekly increase to unemployment benefits, according to a Washington Post report.
President Donald Trump already issued four executive orders last month when negotiations hit a stalemate. That included boosting unemployment benefits by $300 per week with federal money.
Senate Republicans plan to vote Thursday on a “skinny” version of a stimulus package that totals $500 billion. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “optimistic” it would get enough support in his Chamber.
But even if it does, it’s highly unlikely to pass in the Democratic-led House. Liberals have already attacked the Republicans’ latest proposal as not nearly enough.
“They do not want any bipartisan relief,” McConnell said.
He accused Democrats of holding out on making any real progress on a stimulus package on purpose, in hopes they can damage Trump and other Republicans at the polls on Election Day.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi skirted around that issue when speaking with MSNBC on Monday, saying instead:
“There are millions of kids who are food insecure, millions, maybe 14 million in our country, food insecure. He has nothing for that. There are millions of families, victims of evictions because they can’t pay the rent. They don’t care about that.”
Senate Republicans’ latest relief package includes a $300 per-week supplement to unemployment benefits, $16 billion for coronavirus testing, $15 billion to aid child care providers in re-opening, $20 billion toward farmers, $258 billion for another round of the Paycheck Protection Program, $31 billion for a coronavirus vaccine, and $105 billion given to schools to help them re-open.
But Pelosi is sticking hard that it’s not nearly enough and “does nothing.” The House originally proposed a $3.5 trillion plan that they later cut to $2.5 trillion — though that was more a play with numbers than an actual reduction in spending.
The immediate opposition to the Senate’s proposal has many people within the Republican Party doubting anything will get done soon. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, when asked if he thought negotiations would re-start and a deal would be reached before the election, said:
“Unless something really broke through, it’s not going to happen.”
Shelby even alluded to lawmakers wanting to leave Washington to head home and campaign with less than two months before the November 3 election.
McConnell and other Republican leaders in Congress are more focused on short-term spending and a continuing resolution (also known as a CR) to avoid a potential government shutdown at the end of September. This would then set up a meeting of the two Congress chambers to discuss any legislation that would be unfinished, which might include a larger coronavirus stimulus package.
As Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt said:
“My guess would be that if we leave in September with a CR, we will not come back to do anything before the election.”
